"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Points to Ponder ...

"My children may bicker, and I may—almost certainly will—complain. But the bickering and the griping are chaff, and what’s left when the winds of time carry them away are the golden kernels I want to savor..."
--Melissa Wiley

February 21, 2009

Meatless on Friday: Part I

For the last several years, our family has committed to meatless Fridays all year long. This is because we saw an interview on EWTN once in which a jovial, kindly priest mentioned, almost in passing, that "meatless Fridays" were never really dropped from Catholic discipline, but instead were made optional ... as long as they were replaced with some other sacrifice.

It was an "oops!" moment for us. We weren't making any effort at all to replace meatless Fridays with something else -- well, you know, other than, uh, meat. Honesty required us to make a more concerted effort as a family, and a return to "meatless on Friday" was the decision we made.

You'd think, then, that we'd be an excellent resource for those of you who are entering the world of meatless Fridays only during Lent.

Or ... not.

I'm here to tell you it's a real, legitimate sacrifice all year long; and I'm no smarter about it than any of you. :) (The only thing worse is Water Wednesdays -- not necessarily a day of fast, but rather giving up all liquid refreshment other than water, on Wednesdays during Lent, including milk, coffee, tea, soda, juice ... Sounds pretty simple, huh? Don't be fooled! It's awful!! That I even consider such a thing for Lent is the fault of my immeasurably more spiritually astute sister, Theresa. She should have a blog. Then you'd see all the cool things she does to share our Faith with her family, and you could feel guilty, too.) :)

Given that sorry disclaimer, then, I'm going to share two things in this mini-series: (1) The kinds of meals we typically prepare on Fridays; and (2) A few recipes each week, to help you pick out funner-than-usual meals for the Ash Wednesday through Good Friday lineup this year. I hope you find some of it inspirational -- I'm actually pretty excited about it myself! In fact, I have to say that writing this post has re-energized me toward really making an effort to keep our Meatless Fridays from falling into a rut, all year long.

As I think about our typical Friday fare, I find that our (really, very conventional) meals fall into 8 more or less distinct categories:

1. Cop Out and Order Out

This is something we've been working especially hard to avoid of late, especially during Lent; but it naturally includes such things as Cheese Pizza and Fish Frys. (Fries?)

2. Homemade Cheese Pizza

When you've got an easy, yummy recipe like this one to draw from, natch! There's plain cheese (always a winner here), white pizza, veggie pizza, and the vegetarian version of Make-Your-Own. I've never made shrimp or scallop pizza, but it'd be an elegant alternative! And don't forget that English muffins and bagels make fun pizza crusts, too!

3. Fish Sticks

Or any frozen fish product. With or without mac & cheese.

4. Tuna

That'd include Tuna Noodle Casserole (Tuna, peas, noodles and cream of mushroom soup), Creamed Tuna and Peas on Toast (when the cream sauce includes a little half & half and the bread is homemade, this is actually quite a nice dish), and Grilled Tuna Sandwiches (aka "Tuna Burgers" if served on a hamburger bun).

5. Some Variation of Beans, Rice and Cheese

Such as Spanish Rice (meatless, of course) or Refried Bean Burritos -- this combination is almost always Mexican-influenced around here.

Actually, a very popular choice around here, and includes Scrambled Eggs or Omelettes & Toast, Egg Casserole (e.g. with broccoli & cheese), French Toast, Pancakes, Latkes & Applesauce, and even cold cereal.

There you are! Surely you can come up with a few ideas for the 8 meatless meals looming before you in the coming weeks (starting on Wednesday! Yikes!) Stay tuned for some menu ideas & main dish recipes, too, including a few that will be new to our family!

Comments

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Thanks for posting this, Eileen. It sounds a lot like our meatless nights--minus the fish because the cook has an aversion to all things piscene.
It is hard (for me, at least) to serve a meatless meal that *feels* like a sacrifice. Something to think about, I suppose...Thanks for food for thought (pun totally intended!)

Oh, it's a sacrifice around here, all right -- as my husband so grievously expressed upon cautiously inquiring about planned dinner fare one Friday on his way home from work: "You know, it's Friday, and it's the start of the weekend, and everything's great -- and then you find out that you're coming home to some combination of beans and rice and cheese. Or tuna. Warm. On a shingle." :)

As a person whose birthday falls well-within the bounds of "all things piscene" I hope you'll reconsider at least *that* part of your aversion! (My birthday is on Ash Wednesday this year. Condolances welcome.) :)

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We are a Catholic homeschooling family of 7, a blend of step children, bio children and adoptees, making our way to heaven the best way we know how! Here's a record of our journey, with thoughts on anything we care about--mostly homeschooling, faith and finding a way to make it all work for each of us. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your visit!